Robert Michel
Until Robert L. Michel came along and founded The Dark Intelligence Group (DIG) two decades ago, the clinical laboratory industry and the anatomic pathology profession lacked a trustworthy source for information about the management and operations of medical laboratories. From its inception in 1995, The Dark Report quickly became the “go to” source of industry intelligence, innovations in lab management, and strategic market analysis.
This excellence in reporting has earned recognition from his peers. For example, twice Michel and The Dark Report have won national awards for best investigative reporting by the Specialty Information Publishers Association. In 2005, the award was for Michel’s coverage about how the anatomic pathology condominium laboratories (pod labs) operated by urologists and gastroenterologists came to be, who operated them, and how these owners marketed the AP condo labs to other physician groups. In 2009, Michel’s award for best investigative reporting resulted from his published interviews with Quest Diagnostics Incorporated when the company admitted that, for a period of 18 months, it had been reported inaccurate Vitamin 25(OH) D results because of problems with its laboratory-developed test methodology. The Dark Report’s story was picked up by The New York Times and was in the national news cycle for several days.
In his role as Editor-in-Chief, Michel brought unique capabilities to DIG and The Dark Report. His management training and diverse business experience—along with his skills as a concise writer and analyst—proved to be a winning combination for readers of The Dark Report. For that reason, Michel’s story has many intriguing elements.
Immediately prior to founding DIG, he had served in several executive positions for Nichols Institute based in Portland, Oregon, and San Juan Capistrano, California. This was during the time that Nichols Institute was an independent public lab company with annual revenues of about $280 million (prior to its acquisition by MetPath, Inc., now Quest Diagnostics Incorporated). He traveled extensively to many of the clinical lab business units owned by Nichols Institute in different regions of the United States and played a role in formulating effective market strategies in response to the emergence of closed-panel HMOs, capitated pricing, and full-risk managed care contracts, among other successful management initiatives.
Prior to his service at Nichols Institute, Michel served at three different Fortune 100 companies. These were Procter & Gamble, Centex Corporation, and Financial Corp. of America. Each was an opportunity to master new management techniques and apply them in different industries. Between these positions, he gained experience as an entrepreneur, having founded a real estate development firm and a general contracting company in the Southeastern United States.
Robert Michel earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics at the University of California, Los Angeles, where he played rugby, a sport he participated in for another 22 years. He is a native of California and grew up in Santa Ana.
Articles by Robert Michel
UroCor, Unilab, AmeriPath, MedPartners, Epitope
UROCOR INKS PACT TO MATCH DIAGNOSTICS WITH THERAPEUTICS HERE’S A PIONEERING EFFORT to more closely link diagnostics and therapeutics into a single product package. UroCor, Inc. and Mallinckrodt, Inc. signed an agreement that allows Mallinckrodt to sell an…
“October 11, 1999 Intelligence: Late Breaking Lab News”
Here’s a hats-off to Ortho-Clinical Diagnostics (OCD). At a time when everything in the healthcare system seems to be taking things away from clinical laboratories, OCD has organized a worthwhile laboratory management best practices day for its most loyal customers. Started four ye…
Bi-Coastal Powerhouse Formed by Lab Merger
CEO SUMMARY: Changes to healthcare continue to stimulate responses from independent commercial laboratories. This time it’s a merger of Las Vegas-based Associated Pathologists Laboratories with American Medical Laboratories of Chantilly, Virginia. This combination creates the third-larg…
Finally: Respect for Cytyc As Aetna OKs ThinPrep®
CEO SUMMARY: Here’s an important development in the battle to get the healthcare community to accept new technology for the preparation of Pap smears. Aetna/U.S. Healthcare announced that it would cover the monolayer preparation tests offered by Cytyc and AutoCyte. Aetna’s decision ma…
Capitated Contracts Losing Favor Within the Hospital Industry
IT APPEARS THAT AN INCREASING number of hospitals in mature managed care markets like California and Colorado are rejecting capitated managed care contracts. If future events verify this trend, the experience of hospitals may demonstrate a way for clinical laboratories to reject capitated arrangemen…
Ten Management Myths Misled Clinical Laboratory Executives
CEO SUMMARY: We offer our second installment about the ten management myths which led the clinical laboratory industry astray during the 1980s and 1990s. Regretfully, clients responding to part one of this series tell us that these management myths remain alive and well—and continue to …
New Trend Threatens Pay For Pathology Part A Services
CEO SUMMARY: Each year, more hospitals adopt an aggressive stance and attempt to eliminate or greatly reduce the compensation paid to their pathology groups for Medicare Part A technical services. There is a surprising reason why an increasing number of hospital administrators suddenly ha…
Pathologist Income Symposium, Healtheon, Biogenetics, Healthworks Alliance
PATHOLOGIST INCOME SYMPOSIUM DATES ARE NOVEMBER 12-13, 1999 SCOTTSDALE IS AGAIN SLATED TO HOST the upcoming private Pathologist Income Symposium, scheduled for November 12-13, 1999. This year’s symposium tackles the toughest of all topics: increasing the compensation paid by hosp…
“September 20, 1999 Intelligence: Late Breaking Lab News”
Here’s an interesting company to keep an eye on. Abaton.com, based in Minneapolis, is one of the early entrants in the race to offer web-based clinical network solutions at the point of care. Centrex Clinical Laboratories, Inc. of Utica, New York is purchasing Abat…
Reference Labs Intensify Battle for Send-Out Tests
CEO SUMMARY: Expect a battle royale for hospital reference and esoteric testing by the handful of labs that offer such testing to hospitals throughout the country. With the merger of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated and SmithKline Beecham Clinical Laboratories now a fact, competitors are al…
CURRENT ISSUE
Volume XXXII, No. 13 – September 15, 2025
The Dark Report examines a new bill that would reform PAMA and avoid reimbursement rate cuts scheduled for January 2026. Clinical laboratory leaders are urged to make their voices heard in Congress. Also, an expert describes how labs can fix pre-analytical errors and avoid disaster.
See the full table of contentsHow Much Laboratory Business Intelligence Have You Missed?
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